Michael Sumuel

Bass-Baritone

Biography

American bass-baritone Michael Sumuel, hailed as having “vocals [that] are smooth and ingratiating” (Daily Camera) returns in this current season to Glyndebourne Festival Opera to perform Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and makes his debut atTeatro Massimo di Palermo performing Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Concert appearances include debuts with the BBC Proms, singing Kate Whitley’s “I am I say” with the Multi-Story Orchestra, Mozart’s Mass in c minor with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Pablo Heras-Casado at Carnegie Hall, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Seattle Symphony, Handel’s Messiah with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Passion According to St. John with Music of the Baroque in Chicago, conducted by Jane Glover, and a return to Mercury Houston to perform the bass solos in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion.

In the 2016/17 season, Michael Sumuel returned to Houston Grand Opera as Belcore in L’elisir d’Amore, conducted by Jane Glover and Masetto in Don Giovanni at San Francisco Opera, conducted by Marc Minkowski. Additional appearances included a role and house debut as Alidoro in La Cenerentola and Escamillo in Carmen at Norwegian National Opera. Concert engagements included debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra as Pilatus in Bach’s St. John Passion, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, Mozart’s Requiem with the Phoenix Symphony and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the American Classical Orchestra at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

n the 2015/16 season, Michael Sumuel returned to San Francisco Opera as Escamillo in Calixto Bieto’s production, and returned to Glyndebourne Festival Opera for Theseus. He joined North Carolina Opera for Sharplessand Opera Southwest as Selim in Il Turco in Italia. On the concert stage, Mr. Sumuel made his debut with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic in Mozart’s Mass in c minor and joined the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor and Mercury Houston for Handel’s Messiah.

Previous seasons have included a successful Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Masetto in a new production of Don Giovanni by Robert Falls, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, as well as his San Francisco Opera debut as Tom in the world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier opposite baritone Thomas Hampson in a Francesca Zambello production conducted by Patrick Summers. He later returned to perform Elviro in Handel’s Xerxes, alongside David Daniels and Susan Graham. On the stage of Houston Grand Opera he has performed the roles of Papageno in The Magic Flute, Frank in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Masetto and Schaunard in John Caird’s new production of La Bohéme, a role that also served as his European debut with Glyndebourne Festival Opera, where he later returned to sing Junius in The Rape of Lucretia. He made his role debut as Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Dayton Opera and reprised the role for his company debut with Central City Opera.

Notable concert appearances include Messiah with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, United States Naval Academy and San Francisco Symphony, where he later returned to perform Copland’s Old American Songs. He also appeared in a program called “Around the World” for a New Year’s Eve concert with the Dayton Philharmonic. He has made multiple appearances with Mercury Houston including a project called “Napoleon and the Battle of Nations,” excerpts from Rameau’s Les Amants trahis and Thétis, and a concert of select Bach canatatas. He has also appeared with Da Camera of Houston for a program of Brahms and Schönberg lieder in a multi-media project called “In the Garden of Dreams” and the Santa Barbara Symphony for selected scenes from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

While a Studio Artist with Houston Grand Opera, Mr. Sumuel appeared as Sharpless in performances of Puccini’s MadamaButterfly, the Motorcycle Cop in Dead Man Walking starring Joyce DiDonato (now available on compact disc), Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, and the Lackey in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos. He also sang Dr. Dulcamara in performances of L’elisir d’amore, Third Noble in Lohengrin, Sciarrone in Tosca and Narumoff in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. Other operatic roles include Leporello in Don Giovanni and the title role in Gianni Schicchi.

Mr. Sumuel’s competition accolades include being awarded a 2015 Richard Tucker Career Grant, 2012 MONC Finalist and a winner of the 2009 Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. He is an alumnus of the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera Center and the Filene Young Artist program at Wolf Trap Opera.

Reviews

“Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel plays the title character with near-reckless, unabated exuberance. His three arias, each iconic in its own way, seem remarkably fresh in Sumuel’s interpretation, particularly the show-stopping jealousy number “Aprite un po’quegli occhi” in Act IV. His vocals are smooth and ingratiating, imbuing the character with the humanity he needs.”

Daily Camera

“The standout among them was bass-baritone Michael Sumuel, who brought luminous tone and theatrical presence to the roles of a Rhodesian barkeep and a Vietnam medic.”

San Francisco Chronicle

More Reviews

“Most notable was bass-baritone Michael Sumuel in his San Francisco Opera debut, whose strong and convincing portrayal was the most affecting and convincing of the evening.”